March 31, 2014

Indians on US bank notes

$5 Indian NoteIn 1899, the U.S. Mint issued the first and only bank note to feature a Native American as the central portrait: Running Antelope, a celebrated chief of the Uncpapa band of Sioux.

Old and rare paper notes like this unique $5 silver certificate are amazing works of art. The intricate detail of Chief Running Antelope’s facial features and headdress are absolutely stunning. This unique bill caused quite a scandal when it was issued due to a mistake of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, who used the headdress of a rival tribe, the Pawnee, on Running Antelope.

This beautiful note was the first and only U.S. paper currency to feature a Native American.

Issued for only a short time, the $5 Indian Head Note is extremely rare and in high demand. Order yours today!

We don't have any other examples of Indians on bank notes--yet. But there's an obvious choice for such a note.

By Jillian KeenanIt was unfathomable that thousands of Native American men, women, and children were forced to march West, sometimes freezing to death or starving because U.S. soldiers wouldn’t let them bring extra food or blankets. It was hard to hear that the Choctaw Nation lost up to a third of its population on the death march. It was disorienting to learn that what amounted to ethnic cleansing had come at the insistence of an American president.

But then it was lunchtime, and we pulled out our wallets in the cafeteria. Andrew Jackson was there, staring out from every $20 bill. We had been carrying around portraits of a mass murderer all along, and had no idea.

So we’ve compiled a list of just 10 Natives who could take Jackson’s place on the $20 bill. Who do you think it should be?

Sequoyah, born in Tennessee sometime between 1760 and 1780, was a skilled blacksmith, silversmith and engraver who wanted a way to sign his name on his work. By 1809, he was working on a written syllabary—or a symbol for every Cherokee word. He soon turned to phonetic symbols that represented the 85 distinct syllables in the Native language.